WHISTLER, British Columbia — Whoever invented the sport of skeleton must have suffered from loose bones in the brain.

Take a steel-framed sled that’s about a yard long and a few inches high. Place it on an ice-plastered, concrete bobsled track with banked corners capable of exerting 5G centrifugal force. Push off, and like a bowling ball careening down a laundry chute, slide down headfirst at freeway-worthy speeds.

I can’t wait to try it. Along with bobsled and biathlon, sampling skeleton is one of the Olympic Legacy Package options offered through the Four Seasons Hotel at British Columbia’s Whistler Blackcomb ski resort.

Home to the 2010 Olympic alpine, Nordic and sliding events, Whistler remains North America’s largest single ski area. It boasts a mile of vertical relief, one of the greatest drops on the continent. I spend my arrival day sliding the slopes like gold-medalist Bode Miller, but at a quarter of the speed and a fraction of the form.

My first Olympic Legacy event is the Discover Biathlon Experience held at Whistler Olympic Park in Callaghan Valley, a 20-minute drive from the village.

In men’s Olympic competition, instructor Jessica Blenkam explains, cross-country skiers race a 4-kilometer course that ends at the shooting range. With hearts pumping at a rate that would send Richard Simmons to the emergency room, the athletes fire five shots at tiny targets. For every miss, they do a 150-meter penalty lap. They then ski another 4-kilometer loop and fire again. In all, they do five loops and four firing sessions — two standing and two prone.

Target practice

After an hour spent trying to master skate skiing, it’s time to shoot. At the 30-lane firing range, a mat and rifle await me at station five.

“Those targets are 50 meters away,” Blenkam says. “The standing targets are the size of a grapefruit, and the prone are the size of a plum.”

Lying on my belly, I center the first circle in the sights. Gently, I squeeze the trigger. The shot echoes, but the target remains black.

I missed.

I fire again. And again. By the time the clip is exhausted, only two targets have turned white. Over the course of the next hour, my best result is four out of five, and I don’t have to ski before firing. Maybe biathlon will not be my podium event.

The next day, I head over to the Whistler Sliding Center, site of the Olympic bobsled, luge and skeleton track. It’s nearly a mile in length and sports a 499-foot drop with an average grade of 10.5 percent. Its 16 corners culminate with Thunderbird, a nearly 180-degree hairpin turn where sleds and sliders experience maximum speeds and G-forces.

“You’re all going to be active participants in the sport of skeleton today,” Anna Lynch tells us at orientation. “You’re going to reach speeds up to 100 kilometers per hour and experience G forces several times your body weight.”

The sleds look nothing like the Flexible Flyers of my youth. There’s a cutout at the top where our heads go. Our torsos cover the middle part. Arms go down the side and hands grip handles beside our butts. Knees rest on a plate near the bottom.

“Be like a sack of potatoes,” Lynch advises. “If you lift your knees or shoulders, the runners are going to be free to move side to side. That’s when you’re going to be tapping the walls. You want to keep a nice streamlined body position at all times. No chicken wings.”

Unlike Olympians, who dive onto moving sleds from the top, we start stationary and descend only the bottom third of the track. Lynch gives us our starting order. I’m No. 8.

My time comes all too soon. Lying in wait, I’m more nervous than the groom at a shotgun wedding.

“You ready?” the starter asks.

Sack of potatoes. Only 30 seconds of sheer terror.

“Sure,” I gulp.

He pushes and I begin accelerating down the track faster than a nitro-flaming dragster. Through goggles, all I see is a whirring blur of gray ice. Centrifugal force slams my helmet down, causing the chin guard to scrape the surface. Instinctively, I lift. The sled weaves, and I begin caroming off the walls. I make promises I’ll never keep.

A survivor’s tale

Finally, I fling through Thunderbird and stop on the uphill outrun. Like a pilot walking away from a crash, I feel lucky to be alive.

My time is 32:61. After all 20 participants finish their first runs, I’m in 18th place. With two others finishing worse than me, I’m ecstatic.

Exercising better control on my second run, I cut more than two seconds off my time and shoot through the speed trap a hair slower than 60 mph. That gives me 14th place.

Maybe skeleton will not be my podium event, either. There’s still the final Olympic Legacy option of bobsledding left to do.

Dan Leeth is a freelance writer in Colorado.

When you go

Olympic Legacy Package

The Olympic Legacy Package at the Four Seasons Whistler includes room, a daily breakfast buffet for two and the chance to sample biathlon, bobsledding or skeleton. The package starts around $545 per day, based on double occupancy. Contact the Four Seasons Whistler (604-935-3400, fourseasons.com/whistler) for more information.

The bobsled, skeleton and discover biathlon experiences are also available independently. Contact the Whistler Sliding Centre (604-964-0040, whistlerslidingcentre.com) or Whistler Olympic Park (604-964-0060, whistlerolympicpark.com) for dates, times and prices.

Minimum ages as well as minimum and maximum sizes may apply to each of the Olympic Legacy sports. Contact the Four Seasons concierge or the Olympic Park and Sliding Centre sites for details.

Getting there

American Airlines (1-800-433-7300, aa.com) offers daily nonstop service from Dallas-Fort Worth to Vancouver.

Whistler is about 85 miles north of Vancouver International Airport on Highway 99. For those who do not want to drive, Pacific Coach (1-800-661-1725, pacificcoach.com) offers bus transfers from the airport or downtown Vancouver to Whistler with round-trip winter prices starting at $98-130 per adult.

Accommodations

Contact Four Seasons (1-800-819-5053, fourseasons.com) to book rooms at that hotel. Check with Whistler Central Reservations (1-888-403-4727, whistlerblackcomb.com) for a list of other properties in and around Whistler Village.

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